Bitcoin Price Drops After SEC Postpones ETF Decision Until Sept 30th

8. August 2018

Bitcoin declines by over 6% in the last 24-hours while the overall cryptocurrency markets lost over $20 billion.

It seems like the Bitcoin ETFs are not coming anytime soon as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Tuesday that it will postpone the ruling on CBOE Bitcoin ETF by 30th of September. The SEC document notes that the CBOE BZX Exchange filed for the Bitcoin ETF on June 20, 2018, and the proposed rule change was published on July 2, 2018, in the Federal Register.

The regulatory watchdog said that so far the agency has received 1300 comments. While further explaining SEC’s leverage to extend its decision, Eduardo A. Aleman, an assistant secretary at the SEC, wrote:

“Section 19(b)(2) of the Act5 provides that within 45 days of the publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change, or within such longer period up to 90 days as the Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission shall either approve the proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved. The Commission is extending this 45-day time period. “

Bitcoin And The Overall Crypto Markets React

Soon after the news was out, the bears took the charge as Bitcoin lost more than 6% sliding down below $6600. According to the data on CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is currently trading at $6570 with a market cap of $112 billion.

Along with Bitcoin, this heavy correction has gripped the entire market with other major altcoins like Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and others in the top 10 correcting between 8-15%. As per the charts on CoinMarketCap, the overall market cap has lost over $20 billion in the last 24 hours.

A lot of hopes of the crypto community were pinned on SEC’s decision on CBOE Bitcoin ETF, and it seems that latest announcement from the SEC has not been received well by the markets.

Crypto Experts Views On The Latest SEC Decision

Reactions have been pouring in from all over the world, and many experts believe that this was quite expected from the SEC. American lawyer, Jake Chervinsky, who has been closely observing the crypto markets in regards to the regulatory developments, said that he had predicted this and that the extension can further move ahead to December 29.

Expected result, earlier than expected execution.

New deadline: Sunday, September 30, exactly 45 days from the prior deadline of August 16. I had predicted October 1, thinking the SEC would carry the deadline over to the next Monday.

Marouane Garcon, managing director of crypto-to-crypto derivatives platform Amulet, said that the latest SEC decision “wasn’t a surprise to anyone”. Garcon further added:

“In terms of the price, we’ve heard a lot of good news recently about Bitcoins future and its utility. I think the general sentiment around Bitcoin is still positive even in the wake of the SEC’s decision. If Bitcoin’s future was contingent on SEC approval then we’d be in trouble. News like this used to trigger a volatile uproar, so this modest decline in price only demonstrates asset and market maturation.”

As it was reported by CoinSpeaker yesterday, Canada-based wealth management giant Canaccord Genuity has published a report wherein it says that the SEC can extend the decision on CBOE Bitcoin ETF by March 2019. Michael Graham and Scott Suh, the two researchers from Canaccord who have authored the report “Blockchain and Digital Assets: US Equity Research”, wrote:

“And although the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust, seen by many as the most formidable candidate for a potential approval, is due for a potential decision as early as this month, it is largely believed that the SEC will extend its deadline, in which case a decision may not be made until March 2019. Meanwhile, we note that other bitcoin-based securities (e.g., Bitcoin Tracker One) have been available for trading on regulated exchanges as early as May 2015 in Sweden, while north of the border, Canada is working towards its own bitcoin ETF product, the Evolve Bitcoin ETF.”

In the report, the authors also noted that there has been a growing interest for digital currencies among the institutional space, especially after several institutional products and custodial services launched by different crypto firms.

“The arrival of a potential bitcoin ETF remains top of mind for institutional investors seeking exposure to this emerging asset class, and there are now multiple applications pending approval by the SEC, most notably that proposed by Van Eck/SolidX. In addition, institutional custody continues to make progress, as Ledger announced a partnership with Nomura and Global Advisors during the Consensus conference in May and Coinbase launched its institutional custody product in early July,” told the researchers.